by Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware
Pastor Nancey Jackson Johnson wears many hats. A preacher and gospel music recording artist, she’s also CEO of Jersey Shore Worship, a charitable nonprofit, and is the first Black woman chaplain ministering to the Neptune, New Jersey police department.
Similarly, Dr. Michelle Boone-Thornton is also a multitasker: an educator, scholar and professor at Regent University, she’s an award-winning international speaker, author counselor and humanitarian.
On Dec. 6, both women will get to add yet another accolade to their impressive resumes. They are among 25 women receiving honors at this year’s Trailblazers and Unsung She-Roes Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. The event is part of an effort to recognize emerging Black and Afro Latina women in clergy who are providing leadership in a profession dominated by men.
The event’s host, Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, put it succinctly: “You can’t keep a good woman down.”
In fact, women in ministry “must be lifted up,” says Cook, herself an accomplished clergywoman, author and former White House religious freedom ambassador under former President Barack Obama. “The strength of their character, charisma, spirit and intellect causes them to rise to the top.”
The event is sponsored by Women on the World Stage and Black Women in Ministry Thrive, an organization that helps mentor and support Black female clergy. The honorees have served 20 or more years in ministry and in their communities.
Johnson Cook is founder and CEO of the Global Black Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Now in her 43rd year of ordained ministry, Johnson Cook says she has dedicated this season of her work “not to retiring, but to inspiring.”
The gala will also help launch and establish the first International Suzan Johnson Cook Global Leadership and Wellness Center that will honor the objectives of Women on the World Stage, a nonprofit that helps enhance, empower, equip and advance women globally.
For Jackson Johnson, service to her community through the church is an opportunity to spread faith, and grow membership, through good works.
”The church holds a key responsibility to uphold the light of the gospel of Christ,” says Jackson Johnson, who started singing at age 6 in her father’s church and has recorded with nationally acclaimed gospel artists. She is associate pastor at Christ Church of Howell, New Jersey, and a two-time nominee for the Stellar Awards, which recognizes excellence in gospel music.
“In the face of diminishing attendance, the ‘spiritual but not religious’ contingent who are finding other sources for spiritual guidance, ministry has to be extended beyond the walls of the church,” she says.”